Episode 8: Risk Communication in Covid (with Sir David Spiegelhalter)

This episode is all about communicating about risks and statistics, [first broadcast during the Covid pandemic]. When you’re talking to patients – in the consulting room, on the phone, or perhaps even on the radio or TV - how do you explain the sensitivity and specificity of a test, confidence intervals, or the benefits and risks of taking the Covid vaccine? Should we use analogies, and what about relative versus absolute risk? Our expert guest offers practical tips.

[First broadcast April 10th, 2021]

With guest statistician Sir David Spiegelhalter,  Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk at the University of Cambridge, who appeared regularly in the media and advising the government throughout the pandemic